Azerbaijan, Baku, 8 February / Trend corr I. Khalilova / The second stage of mortgage crediting in Azerbaijan will expand the opportunities for participation of the German Commerzbank in financing real estate purchasing in Azerbaijan, Martin Blessing, a board member at Commerzbank, said in Baku on 7 February.
At the second stage the National Bank of Azerbaijan plans to introduce mortgage financing on a commercial basis.
"The new stage of mortgage financing is based on the German system and because of this we will be more at ease in this market and hope to expand our opportunities," Blessing said.
Commerz Bank is an advanced bank in private business financing in Europe. Its mortgage portfolio comprises $200bln.
The financing of real estate purchasing in Azerbaijan through the Azerbaijani Mortgage Fund (AMF) attached to the National Bank of Azerbaijan began in March 2005. However, due to a lack of funds the AMF suspended allocation of credits in June 2007.
So far, AMF has been financed through the public budget. But according to the new mechanism the Fund, along with social mortgage, will allot credits on commercial terms. Up to now, the budget allocated AZN 46mln for this purpose. And AZN 34mln was envisaged in the public budget-2008.
Commerz Bank is the second largest bank in Germany, with its assets comprising $900bln and its profits total $3bln in 2007.